


It's a Cold, Hard City

by WriteItSmall (scribblemyname)



Series: Comment Fic LiveJournal Stories [174]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Character Study, Community: comment_fic, Gen, That's how it is; It's Gotham, partners
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-03
Updated: 2014-12-03
Packaged: 2018-02-28 00:40:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2712638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scribblemyname/pseuds/WriteItSmall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You don't get respect here for doing 'the right thing.'</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's a Cold, Hard City

**Author's Note:**

  * For [likewinning](https://archiveofourown.org/users/likewinning/gifts).



> Prompt by likewinning at the LJ Comment Fic comm: [Gotham, Jim Gordon/+Harvey Bullock, you said, "I've been fighting for your honor but you wouldn't understand."]()

"This is _Gotham,_ Gordon. You don't get respect here for doing 'the right thing.'" Harvey's sneer over the words made Jim's hands slide to his hips as he glanced away and shook his head. "You get respect for surviving. So pardon _me_ , partner, for trying to keep you alive when you're sorry hide isn't _worth_ saving, for caring about your wife—"  
  
"Girlfriend," Jim correctly dryly.  
  
"Girlfriend," Harvey said agreeably, "for lying to whoever wants to kill you, and doing my job to teach you how to work in this city."  
  
"You don't work. You're phoning it in." Jim nailed his partner with a cold look. "I've seen you work, and you don't care about doing your job and helping these peopl—"  
  
"That's your job!" Harvey yelled, up close in Jim's space. "You're the wide-eyed rookie. You get to help people and I get to keep you alive. That's how it works, Gordon. It's _Gotham_."  
  
Tense silence stretched between them.  
  
Finally, Jim sighed. "That's not how it's supposed to work."


End file.
